Shiny turds

It was cloudy and 66 about ten minutes ago, now it’s sunny and sweltering. Yeah, I’m in Cincinnati. The center of the city (probably not geographically – I think that’s in the Zoo somewhere, cage number 6 in the elephant house to be precise) is Fountain Square. Tuesdays during the summer are Market Days. And boy is it packed! There are… gimme a sec… seven- count ‘em – SEVEN booths selling stuff. You can buy necklaces, overpriced waffles, $4 bags of kettle corn, barbecued meat sandwiches, fruit and vegetables from Madison’s, walk past booths that closed already (it’s 13:40, or to my American readers, 1:40 pm; get used to that by the way; and get used to the “other” date format: today is 25/5/2010; I’ll have to think Eurostile – I mean Eurostyle – while I’m away), and more… I think. What’s that huge statue with water pouring from it? Oh, that’s the fountain, not a magnificent work of temporary engineering. So just the four booths then.

I did buy some peaches and asparagus from Madison’s ($1.50 per bunch of asp. and $2/lb. for peaches, but a nice clerk rounds that down to $3 for me). I was hungry though (it’s lunchtime you know), and walking back to work I see the long barbecue-kettle corn booth is really a barbecue-kettle corn-deep fried breaded shrimp and french fries… booth. It’s $5 for a shrimp and fries combo – and where better can you get great shrimp than in the heart of the midwest? Aww, they’re almost out of shrimp, but the run of considerate clerks keeps a’comin, and I get a half-off discount! So it’s $2.50 for six fried shrimps on top of a box of fries. That made my freaking day.

In the evening, after much Europe research, golden raisins and Bogle merlot (only four days after uncorking), I realize I should eat something substantial for dinner. Hmm, I have: sweet roasted red pepper hummus, an onion, goat cheese, some oranges, my new peaches (which are too firm so I put them in a paper bag to soften), beer, diet coke, champagne… and my $1.50 asparagus! Oh but I haven’t checked the pantry. Add to the list: pine nuts. Alright, now we’re cookin. Throw those bad boys in a dry pan over med-high heat, put half the stalk of asparagus in a larger pan (same heat) with olive oil, a little S&P, and we have a meal kids.

So here we are. Second blog post of the day, and of the ‘ever. Sorry to put you through this torture, but I figured I’d get some practice while still in Cincy. Really, if someone would have asked me how my day was, the answer (like most others) would be, “fine.” But maybe I CAN shine a turd.

Maybe.